


sometimes, we can't help but fall in love

by depresseddemoness



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Witch Hunters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:00:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27601775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/depresseddemoness/pseuds/depresseddemoness
Summary: When Zelda Spellman returns to Greendale 5 years after a horrific event to finally face it and move past it, she meets Mary Wardwell. Will she let her in, or push her out?
Relationships: Zelda Spellman/Mary Wardwell | Madam Satan | Lilith
Comments: 9
Kudos: 28





	1. I

Zelda walked up the gravel path, putting herself in front of the Spellman mortuary. There were so many memories tied to this place. Most of them made her heart ache. She knew she needed to stop running from her problems. She needed to face her past once and for all. The first step would be moving back into the old Spellman house, after 5 years of running, trying to forget. After minutes of staring at the old house from the comfort of her car, Zelda knew she needed to gather the courage to go in, and get settled. She held her purse tightly against her, as some sort of comfort, as she opened her car door. She stepped out, looking over the house again, before quickly walking up to the front doors before she would change her mind. She fumbled with the key in her hand, before using it to unlock the doors, all the memories she tried to suppress. She threw open the door, she took a few steps in, dust surrounding her from not being here for so long. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. _You can do this._ She thought. _It will be okay._ She walked in further, looking towards the kitchen, memories already flooding her mind of Hilda cooking the Spellman family dinner, and of Sabrina always proposing wild adventures that Zelda would _always_ say no to. Tears filled her eyes as she shut them tightly. She shook her head slightly, before forcing herself to move on to another room. She turned to the living room, cursing herself as more memories intruded from the back of her mind. She pushed them back again. She was hoping that all new furniture would help her forget the old memories. She didn't want to continue upstairs, but she knew she needed to. It would be hard, but it needed to happen at one time or another. She felt like she was in slow motion as she made her way up the stairs, as if she was awaiting doom. She knew she wasn’t; however, she pushed these very moments back for years. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of Sabrina's bedroom. She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself before gathering the courage to enter. She felt as if she was calming herself down for several minutes, when in reality, she didn't know how long she was actually standing there. When she finally gathered the courage, she opened the door with a shaking hand. Although the room was empty, free from furniture, she could feel the memories of Sabrina; of her happy, curious, _alive_. One particularly painful memory flooded her mind. 

_ Zelda led the satanic choir through another song. They sounded beautiful, and she knew they were finally ready for their concert coming up soon at black mass. All was going well, when suddenly a crash was heard in the academy, and it was nearby. The choir stopped singing, and went silent for a couple seconds. A student then spoke up. “What was that, Ms. Spellman?” Zelda furrowed her eyebrows. She didn’t answer her question. “Class, stay here, stay silent, i’m going to go see what happened, it was probably nothing.” Zelda turned away and walked out before they could say anything. The halls that were usually buzzing with students were silent, no one wandering the halls, no one talking, nothing. She felt her heart beating rapidly and she tried to keep her breathing quiet and controlled, to stay quiet. She still didn't know what was going on, but she knew that by now, it must be some kind of danger. She heard another crash, followed by a scream, coming from behind her. She stopped walking, and took another deep breath. A couple seconds later, she heard footsteps; lots of them, coming towards her, quickly. She needed to hide. She quickly ran into a nearby classroom, quietly closing the door behind her and locking it. As she heard the footsteps coming closer, she looked out the small window of the door, and saw many people dressed in black, crossbows and knives in hand. Witch Hunters. Fuck. fuck fuck fuck fuck. She waited until the footsteps faded, and then opened the door slowly, her hand now trembling. She walked the other way, where the witch hunters were running from. She started checking the classrooms, seeing if she could find anyone alive, or help someone who was hurt. She opened the first door, empty. She walked through the hallway, and opened another door, this time to find a student, with multiple arrows through her body, blood everywhere. She knew she had to keep going. She opened the next door, this time letting out a sob. Sabrina. Sabrina’s body was lying on the floor, with arrows shot through her body. She ran towards her, kneeling on the floor, shaking her body as if she would wake up. Zelda knew she wouldn’t. Zelda couldn't stop the sob that escaped her as she kept trying to shake Sabrina awake. Whispering, “no.. no.. no..” her head shot up when she heard footsteps coming towards the classroom. She turned, forcing herself up to close the door. She looked around the classroom for a place to hide, she spotted a window; the only place she could go was outside. The footsteps were coming, faster now. She spotted a pencil sharpener on a desk in the back of the room. She took it, and with all of her strength, threw it towards the window. The window shattered, she looked towards Sabrina's frail body, tears still running down her face rapidly. She turned back towards the window, and made her way outside, avoiding the broken glass that was on the floor now. Once she was outside, in the pouring rain, she ran as fast as her legs could take her, running into the woods. She never saw or heard from Hilda or Ambrose again. She knew that they would have tried to reach out to her and find her if they survived. _

Zelda shook her head and closed her eyes, pushing the memory to the back of her mind. She had a fresh start, being back in Greendale, no one would recognize her, she hadn't been back in five years, and she never had contact with anyone besides her now lost family and coven. She’d lost her faith in the Dark Lord, when he didn't protect them when the coven was in the most danger of all. As far as she knew, she was the sole survivor, and she couldn't bring herself to be a part of another coven so easily, she didn't belong anywhere else. So, instead, she got herself a job at baxter highschool as a history teacher. What better history teacher than one who has been alive since the 1300s? It would be weird to be in constant contact with mortals, but it's not like she had anyone else. She couldn't be absolutely alone forever. The only good thing that came out of the witch hunter massacre was the possible death of Faustus Blackwood. Maybe she shouldn't be happy that he was dead, but he was a bastard. The calgari spell, everything he put her through broke her. She still felt broken, even now, after he was dead, it still affected her even now, over five years later. She tried to stop thinking about the past as she walked over to her bedroom, the only room in the house with furniture. The rest of the new furniture will be coming this week. She didn't feel as much sadness when she came into her and Hilda's old room, the room had a new look because of the new furniture. She knew that a different format of the house would help her now. She began to get settled in her room, and in the house. She had a fear now, that becoming too close to mortals would cause them to hunt her, just as the witch hunters had hunted and killed the entirety of the coven, she put any tools, books, or anything having to do with her being a witch down where the mortuary used to be. She couldn’t trust anybody anymore, however, she still longed for someone to share her witch-life with. She could accompany herself as much as she wanted with mortals, but she could never really be her real self with any of them. She was going to start her first day teaching at Baxter high tomorrow. She knew Sabrina went there, before everything happened, and that Hilda handled the parent-teacher conferences, in fact, she had never even stepped foot into the school. she still was nervous that people could connect her to Sabrina because she had the same last name. Surely, none of the students would make the connection, any student that knew Sabrina would have graduated by now. She was nervous about a teacher who previously taught her remembering her. She knew that Sabrina was loved there, by students and teachers. To Baxter High, Sabrina simply moved away suddenly, no one beside Zelda even knew that she had died. She tried to forget her worries; surely everything would be fine. She looked at the time, it read 11pm. She finished settling in and got ready for bed. she needed to be at Baxter High at 7:30am tomorrow. When she got settled into bed, another thought crossed her mind. Nightmares. Being back in the Spellman house would surely cause her to have nightmares, she already had them frequently. She tossed and turned for what felt like ages, thinking about her new job, her new start, before she finally fell into a deep sleep.

She awoke the next morning to an alarm at 6:30am. She had nightmares for most of the night, so she was exhausted from not getting a ton of sleep. She still forced herself up, to get ready for the day ahead. She showered, picked her outfit, and put on makeup. She ate some breakfast and even read the newspaper, which was an old habit from when she lived here before. She looked at the time. 7:15am. She was on time and she felt good. She stepped outside onto the porch, breathing in the cold fall air of greendale. She walked down the driveway, before whispering a spell to herself to transport herself to the school. That was a perk of being a witch, no need to worry about traffic. She appeared hidden, outside of the school. She felt slightly nervous, but took a deep breath. She entered the school, and then realized she had no clue where anything here was. She had never even been here, she had only travelled by. She looked at her phone. She needed to be in classroom 218 by 8am for her first class. She looked up, looking for anyone who could know their way around. She spotted a mousy looking woman near one of the classrooms and got the courage to walk up to her and ask her where she needed to go. 

“Um.. excuse me, could you tell me where room 218 is?” Zelda asked nervously, she hadn't really mingled with mortals very frequently, and with her past she was a little nervous.

The woman turned towards her. She had brunette hair, which was pulled back, and she had piercing blue eyes that brought Zelda’s attention. “Of course! I’m Mary Wardwell, I teach Civics. Are you the new teacher?”

  
Zelda smiled tightly before replying. “My name is Zelda. Zelda Spellman. I’m the new history teacher this year.”

Mary furrowed her eyebrows at the familiar name, but still smiled at her warmly. “I’d be happy to show you around, just follow me.” 


	2. II

Zelda followed Mary, them walking side by side as Mary showed her where the cafeteria and teachers lounge was, amongst other things. They finally reached her classroom, room 218, about 15 minutes before she had to teach her first class of the day.

As they approached the door, Mary stopped and turned towards Zelda. “So, here it is!” She held her arms towards the door. 

Zelda smiled and nodded. “Thank you for showing me around. I really appreciate it.” 

Mary smiled warmly back at Zelda. “Anytime. If you need anything at all, or have questions, my office is right down that hallway.. right...there.” she pointed to a door towards the end of the hallway. “I will be in there pretty much all the time, unless I'm teaching.” 

Zelda took a deep breath. “Ok, I will.”

Mary squinted at Zelda, cocking her head to the side. “Are you nervous? To teach your first class here?”

Zelda looked down before answering. “Maybe a little. I just don't want to mess up. Only Lilith knows what will happen.” Mary furrowed her eyebrows at the word ‘lilith’ but she kept listening anyway. Zelda continued. “What if they don't listen, or I mess up what I'm teaching?”

“Hey, hey.” Mary put a hand on Zelda’s shoulder, frowning when Zelda flinched slightly, but kept her hand there anyway. “It will be ok, if they don't listen, make them listen. I know that you won't mess up what you're teaching. You will be fine.” Mary rubbed Zelda’s shoulder slightly. 

Zelda exhaled, letting a breath out. “Ok, thank you so much, for reassuring me.. For everything. Class starts in 5 minutes, but maybe i'll see you later?”

“Yes, I'm free during lunch, just stop by if you’d like.”

Zelda nodded. “Ok, i'll see you then. Bye Mary.”

“Bye Zelda!” Mary then smiled, and turned, walking towards her office.

Zelda entered the classroom closing the door behind her. She approached her desk, getting settled in. even with Mary’s reassurance, she was still feeling a little nervous about teaching. She didn't want to mess up her fresh start. As she kept thinking, the classroom began to fill with students. She took a deep breath, and got up to start her class. It wasn’t quite as difficult as she anticipated, it was almost like teaching at the academy, except without magic. The students seemed a little distracted, but it was only the first day of school after all. First period went by rather quickly, second period flying by even quicker. Before she knew it, it was lunch time. She began searching her bag for her lunch.  _ Shit.  _ she thought. she knew that she forgot something. Of course it would be her lunch.  _ Well, it doesn't even matter now. _ She thought. She cleaned up her desk a little, before making her way to Mary’s office for lunch. She was happy to have a friend, even if mortal, at her new job. Even if she could never really know Zelda truly, she was happy to have someone in her corner. She made her way down the hallway to Mary’s office. When she got there, she noticed that the door was open. She knocked on the door frame. Mary looked up, and then smiled at Zelda. 

“Hi Zelda. Come in, have a seat.” Mary held her hand out towards the chair in front of her desk. Zelda came in and closed the door after her. Mary closed her laptop, and put some work away in drawers. After she was done, Zelda came and sat down across from her. 

“So.. how is your first day?” Mary asked with curiosity in her voice.

Zelda smiled at her curiosity. “It wasn't that bad, I found it was like teach-” Zelda caught herself almost slipping up about teaching at the academy. She quickly corrected herself and cut herself off. “It went by faster than i thought. They listened well, actually really well for the first day of school.” Mary looked at her curiously as she cut herself off and said something completely different than what she originally was going to say. It sounded as if Zelda had taught before, but she wasn't going to bother Zelda with questions like that now. These thoughts also reminded Mary of when Zelda said something about a ‘lilith’, but she tried to brush those thoughts off. They had only met today and Mary wanted to start off on the right foot with Zelda. She didn't have many friends, and Zelda was new and seemed closed off as well. 

“That’s good, Zelda. I told you it would be ok. Do you have any more classes to teach today?”

Zelda shook her head. “No, I don't, actually. I also don't really have a lot of grading to do since it’s only the first day.”

“Neither do I!” Mary then leaned over to her left, getting her lunch. As she set it on the table, she looked at Zelda with a questionable look on her face. 

“Where’s your lunch, Zelda?” She asked, furrowing her eyebrows when she noticed that Zelda didn't bring anything except herself. 

Zelda widening her eyes a little. “Oh.. i.. forgot it today. I knew that i was forgetting something when i left the house this morning, but at least it was just my lunch and not something all that important.”

“Zelda, lunch is important. Here, have some of mine. You need energy. It’s very important.”

“No, no, it's ok. It's your lunch, I feel fine, i'm not even hungry. I got plenty of sleep last night. I'm good Mary, really.” Zelda knew that her sentence was absolute bullshit, but she really didn't need pity from a  _ mortal _ of all people.

Mary eyed Zelda seriously. “Zelda, I insist.” Mary then gave her a pleading look. Zelda somehow couldn't resist saying no, even if she should. 

Zelda took a deep breath, and then released it. “Ok, ok, i'll have some, but really, you don't have to share with me or, pity me.”

Mary smiled, happy that she succeeded and convinced Zelda. Zelda found herself smiling as well, but she didn't know why. They shared lunch, and got to know eachother better. They talked about a little of everything. Zelda told her a little bit of her past. Apparently she had lived on the east coast, in New York, before moving to greendale to escape the big city. To get some quiet. She never told her what she did before, because it was apparently the first time she had ever taught at a school. Mary told Zelda that she lived in Greendale for years, and knew the small town well. She moved to Greendale young, when she was just out of college. That she could even show her around if she’d like. Zelda knew Greendale already, lived here for years upon years, only with contact to her family and her coven, but she thought she might take her up on her offer. She wanted, no needed friends, and if Mary wanted to be her friend, she wanted to make that happen. She would never let her get too close to her of course.

Zelda chuckled at what Mary said about her showing her around town. “I might have to take you up on that, i definitely don't know my way around, and I barely even know anybody around here.”

Mary laughed softly. “Well, you have me, I can take you into town, tomorrow maybe?” She grabbed a piece of paper out of her drawer, and a pen. She scribbled something on it, before handing it to Zelda. Zelda looked down at the paper Mary handed her, it had a phone number and an address on it. She looked back up at Mary when she started to speak again. 

“Tomorrow, whenever you're available after school, just call me. My address is also on there too.”

“Ok, I will.” she let her eyes wander to the clock behind Mary, realizing that the school day was somehow almost over. How did they talk for so long?

Mary turned to see what Zelda was looking at, and widened her eyes at the time. “Oh Zelda, it’s already practically the end of the day. Wow, it seemed to just fly by.”

Zelda nodded in agreement. “Yes, but i had fun with you, Mary. thank you. I will see you tomorrow.

“Ok, bye Zelda!”

“Bye!”

Zelda left Mary’s office, and found her way back to her own classroom. She gathered her things, and added Mary’s number to her phone, so she could call her tomorrow. She exited the school, she walked around to the side of the school. She checked behind, her and around her, for anyone following her, or nearby. Once she knew she was alone, she whispered a spell, teleporting herself back home. She knew that maybe she should get a car, and not use magic, but using magic made her feel like herself. Without it, she felt completely useless. She found herself in front of the house, and She went inside, and thoughts were already filling her mind. She was weirdly excited to be shown the town she already knew as if she were new. She tried to calm herself down, to not get her hopes up about being close to Mary. She had a bad experience with mortals, what if Mary was scared of witches, or hated them? She couldn't risk getting too close. She hadn't met, or even seen Mary until today, and she hoped that she hadn't taught Sabrina, because she definitely did not need her making any kind of connection with her bad past. She tried to push those thoughts to the back of her mind. Mary was..seemed so nice and welcoming. She kept settling in, some more furniture had been delivered while she was at school. She made herself busy with that, and lastly, she went down the mortuary-no the basement, to finish setting up anything to do with witchcraft, and to make it easily hideable.. just in case. After she was done, she felt drained. She used her last bit of energy to get ready and settled for bed. She shut her eyes, thoughts of today, of  _ Mary _ , filling her mind as she fell into a dreamless sleep. 

Mary found herself not being able to sleep, thoughts of Zelda, of her brand new friend protruding her mind. She was already ready for bed. She let her mind wander to the events of today. Mary then realized that even with her getting to know Zelda better today, she had more and more questions as some things about Zelda simply didn't make sense. She thought about when Zelda said something about someone named Lilith. She even felt like she had heard that name somewhere before, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Her mind also went to when Zelda seemed to have taught at a different school or place recently, even when she told Mary otherwise. However, as she thought about these things, another thought crossed her mind that didn't cross her mind earlier. When Zelda introduced herself to her, she told her what her last name was; Spellman. It reminded her of a student she had long, long ago. Sabrina Spellman. She had the same last name, and she remembered Sabrina telling her she had two aunts. She had only met Hilda Spellman, could the other aunt perhaps be Zelda? She kept thinking, starting to feel more and more tired and she couldn't even focus on her own thoughts anymore. She made a note to herself in her mind to research the name ‘lilith’ as she fell into a deep sleep. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading, comments and kudos are appreciated !!


	3. III

Zelda awoke in the morning weirdly energized. She had fewer nightmares interrupting her sleep, which hadn't happened in a very long time. There were still nightmares, of course, but she usually had up to five a night. Last night she had only had two. In fact, Zelda couldn't remember the last time she had fewer than three nightmares in a night. She sat up in bed to check the time on the clock next to her, on her nightstand. It read 6:30am. She swung her legs over, getting out of bed, and making her way towards her closet and bathroom to start getting ready for the day. As she was getting ready, she found herself feeling more and more excited about seeing Mary today. Not just at school, but later on after. Mary would be showing her around town today, and although Zelda wasn’t actually new to Greendale, she hadn't been around in a while, and things may have changed. She also found herself enjoying Mary’s presence, and hanging out with her, even if she had only met the woman yesterday. She found this weird, she usually despised mortals, but there was something special about Mary that she quite couldn't figure out. She made her way downstairs after she picked out an outfit and concealed any insecurities on her face with makeup. She ate breakfast, and when gathering her things, she made sure to grab her lunch this time. She teleported herself to school, and began to walk in. She realized that this was the happiest, the freest she had felt in a very long time, and maybe it was because of Mary. Maybe coming back to Greendale wasn't so bad after all. But she still wondered how her mood had changed so much due to someone she met so very recently. She didn't even know Mary that well! She never used to get this close to people, especially this fast. She needed to be careful, she couldn't open up to someone so fast, especially a mortal, maybe even at all. She shook these thoughts off as she approached her classroom. She started to get set up. She was making sure her lesson plans for today were organized and ready to go when she heard a soft knock from her door. She looked up, to see Mary standing in the doorway. She paused what she was doing to smile up at her.

“Hi Mary.”

“Hey Zelda, how are you?” Mary asked as she walked in the room a little further.

Zelda grinned. “Actually, good. Better than i have in a while.”

Mary gave her a genuine smile. “That's good, Zelda. Do you have a class soon?”

Zelda looked down at her lesson plans before answering. “Yes, actually in about 10 minutes. I’m making sure that all my lesson plans are organized before it starts.”

“Ok, well, i’ll see you during lunch, if you're available, and then we can go into town.”

Zelda chuckled softly. “Ok, i'll see you then Mary.”

Mary smiled at her, before turning and walking away to her own office. Zelda got up and closed the door after her. She looked around her classroom, now realizing how dirty it was. She had a little under 10 minutes before students would start to come in for class. She wouldn't have time to clean if she did so without magic. She spotted a broom in the corner of the room. flicking her wrist towards it, it began to move and sweep on its own. She wrote out the plans on the white board quickly, then made sure the broom was back to where it belonged. She scanned the room again. ‘Much better.’ she thought as she sat down at her desk to wait for students to fill the classroom. After waiting for a minute or two, students began to filter into the classroom, filling their seats. She began class soon after, she got through her lessons plans for the day rather quickly, opting to give the students work time for the remainder of class. She got through the remainder of her first class, and her second and last one of the day rather quickly. Today, she brought her lunch, thank Lilith. She soon made her way to Mary’s office again, to see if she was there to hang out and eat with. She knocked on the door frame, as she did the day before, and was met with the same smile Mary gave her the day before.

“Hi Zelda, come in, and close the door behind you.” 

Zelda came in, sitting in the same spot, the chair across from Mary. they engaged in a similar, comforting conversation, like the day before. They got to know eachother better, Mary opening up significantly more than Zelda. They started to talk about what brought them to Greendale.

“So, what brings you to Greendale, Zelda? You used to live in New York before, right?” Mary asked curiously, she wanted to know more about Zelda. She could tell from when she met her that she was closed off, and probably pushed people away, considering how little she told her about herself. 

“Oh, yes. Well, I lived in New York for a while, but I found that I needed a change. A change of scenery. I needed to get away from the city, and get some peace and quiet.” Zelda knew that pretty much a straight lie, but what else could she say? “Why did you come to Greendale at such a young age, Mary?”

“Well, when I was in college, I studied topics of religion, and in my studies, I learned of witchcraft. I heard about witches being among Greendale, and it intrigued me. I learned about them, and what they believe in, and I figured that I would just move here since I became so drawn to this town.”

Zelda was definitely not expecting that kind of answer, she decided to test the waters with another question. “If Witches really were among this town.. would you be.. afraid of them? After learning about them?”

Mary chuckled. “No, i'm not afraid of them. I'm more fascinated by their history than scared of them.”

Zelda found herself smiling at this, widely. Now she knew that if Mary ever found out about her, or if she ever opened up to her, she could perhaps trust her. She obviously wasn't going to blurt out ‘im a witch’ anytime soon, but she knew that she didn't have to be as cautious, as worried. She quickly hid her smile when she realized just how much she was smiling at what Mary had just told her. 

The school bell rang, startling both women. Mary’s eyes widened slightly.

“Oh, I'm so sorry Zelda, but i have a class right now, and i'm going to be late. I'll see you after school, to show you around town!” Mary quickly exited her office before Zelda could respond. Zelda felt excited to spend more time with Mary, this time out of school. She also had time for some grading and lesson planning. 

Before she realized it, it was the end of the school day and Zelda found herself to be giddy to make her way to Mary’s house to go. She teleported home, this time directly from her classroom. She returned home, changed clothes, and touched up her makeup. She pulled her phone out to call Mary. She let Mary know she was coming, before waiting a few minutes before teleporting, so as to not look suspicious. After a little while of waiting, she teleported herself to Mary’s doorstep using a spell and the address Mary had written out for her on the piece of paper the night before. She knocked and waited for Mary to answer. The door soon swung open, and Mary was on the other side. 

“Are you ready to go Mary?”

Mary smiled and nodded. Zelda started to love to see Mary smile. “Yes! I'm excited to show you around.” Mary came outside, locking her front door behind her, and Zelda followed her to her car. Before Mary got in, she looked around a bit, with a questioning look on her face.

“Did you walk here Zelda? That must have been rather far.”

Zelda thought quickly before replying. “Yes, it turns out, i live nearby, and i like to walk.”

Mary smiled and nodded, then got into the car. Once Zelda was in as well, she started the car, and they began to drive through the town. Zelda hoped she didn't see anyone she may have known before, but she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind. She rarely went anywhere but the academy and her house when she lived here before, surely everything would be fine. They drove in comfortable silence, occasional conversation occurring between them. Zelda zoned out, while looking out the window, and when she felt the car stop, she looked around at where they were. They were at a small restaurant in the very center of town, she recognized it of course, and Zelda and Mary got out of the car, and began walking towards the restaurant together. 

“So, this is one of the oldest restaurants in Greendale, it's been here even before i lived here, and you know i've lived here a while.” Mary said with a chuckle.

Zelda chuckled, and followed Mary inside. They sat down and began to order food, they ordered what they wanted, and started to have some nice conversation while they waited. Zelda felt happy, which she was not used to. It caught her by surprise. She was always used to feeling a form of loneliness or despair, and was always tense. Somehow, in the matter of days, Mary Wardwell had almost completely changed that. She didn't know how, but she did.

They kept the conversation going, up until when their food arrived. They ate mostly in silence, talking occasionally, but it was almost comforting. Zelda couldn't think of anyone else she’d tolerate long silence with. When they finished, they paid the bill, before finding their way back to Mary’s car. They drove around some more, easily continuing conversation. When they were pulled over near the local park, it began to get darker outside. 

Mary looked at the time, her watch read 9:00 pm. She widened her eyes slightly at how fast the day went. She then looked back up at Zelda.

“Zelda, it's getting quite late, and there's school tomorrow. Let me drop you off so you're not tired tomorrow.” Mary said, with slight worry in her voice. 

“You don’t have to, Mary. I can walk home from your house.” Zelda said nervously. She still didn't know if Mary knew Sabrina, and she didn’t want her to connect the dots now. If she did know her, bringing her to the Spellman Mortuary would confirm the connection.

“No, I insist. I will not have you walking home when it’s about to get dark like this! You said your house was near mine, it's really no problem.”

Zelda knew there was nothing she could say to change Mary’s mind now. There was a chance, after all, that she didn’t teach Sabrina. “Ok, if you insist. I can give you directions from your house, since i don't really know my way around town yet.” Of course Zelda knew her way from here, but she needed to keep up with the story that she was brand new around here. 

Mary drove them to her house, and then let Zelda guide her to the Spellman Mortuary. When she pulled up in front of the house, she furrowed her eyebrows at the familiar house. ‘It can’t be’ she thought as she took a second look. it was still light enough to see where she was, her thoughts were true about Zelda. She must be Sabrina’s other aunt! No one else ever bought the mortuary after the spellman’s left. As far she knew, the spellman family never sold it. That would mean that Zelda was not new around here after all. She smiled at Zelda, and said goodbye. After Zelda got out, she waited for her to get in safely before she drove off the property and was now stuck with her own thoughts on the way home.

‘If Zelda did live here before, why didn't she ever see her or meet her? Why just Hilda and Sabrina? Why would she lie about this? This town is small, practically everyone knows each other.’ These thoughts also made her think about the other things she wondered about Zelda. Zelda seemed to be more and more mysterious as she thought more about what she didn't know about her, and about how some things just didn’t all add up.

When she arrived home, she pulled out her laptop, and looked up the name ‘lilith’. She was met with information telling her that Lilith was Adam’s first wife, then being exiled from Eden. That explains why that name was so familiar. She still was left with lingering questions about how this was all connected to Zelda, and why Zelda would be thanking her. She decided to hold off on asking Zelda about this, or why she had lied about being new to Greendale. She had only known her for a short time, and did not want to ruin it so quickly. She also wanted to find out more about ‘lilith’ first, before confronting Zelda about anything. She tried to shake these thoughts off, calming her head with some hot tea, before falling into bed, sleep coming to her almost immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new chapters should be up every monday hopefully! thanks for reading!


	4. IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's another chapter! sorry this took longer than i thought, and that it's shorter than usual. school has been a pain in the ass lately, but i should be back on track now.

Weeks had passed since Mary had dropped Zelda off at her house after showing her around the small town. Not much had changed, they still shared lunch almost everyday at school, Mary telling Zelda more of herself, while Zelda still kept herself distanced. They hadn’t gone out outside of school since the first time. Zelda was relieved when Mary had no reaction to the Spellman mortuary and she didn't seem to know anything. She might have to tell her eventually, but for now she was happy with where they stood now. Although, Mary had not invited her out since the first time they went out and she couldn't help but wonder why. 

She had the first hard night in a couple weeks when it came to nightmares. She had woken up early from one of many nightmares that she had from that night. She sat up, and looked at the time. 5:20am. She gave up on sleeping and decided to stay awake until she had to be at Baxter High.

When the time came to start getting ready, Zelda executed her normal routine; getting dressed, putting on makeup to hide her insecurities, and getting her lesson plans together. She teleported to school, and was earlier than usual. She didn't want to dwell all morning and think more about her nightmares then she had to. It was 7am when she arrived, and she didn't have to be ready to teach until 8am. 

She approached her classroom, thinking that no other teachers could be here yet, that is until she heard Mary call her name from down the hall. She turned and gave her a smile, running in to set her things down on her desk before approaching Mary, who was across the hall. 

“Zelda, what are you doing here so early, classes don’t start for an hour?” 

Zelda gave Mary a small smile before answering. “Well, i woke up early, and i couldn’t sleep, so i decided to get a headstart.” She didn’t want to tell Mary of her nightmares, and just how horrific they could be. 

“Oh, well, same here.” Mary smiled. It had been somewhat tense and awkward between them ever since they had dinner together. Zelda didn’t understand what happened, or, if she did anything wrong. She didn’t want to pry, in case Mary was tense because of a personal matter, but she hoped that Mary would tell her sometime what was happening. As far as she remembered, the dinner went great, and they bonded as friends more than they did at school. ‘Well, this always happens to me.' Zelda had never actually had someone stick around for her, so why would it be different with Mary? She was foolish to think it would’ve been.

An awkward silence stretched between them, and before it got even more awkward than it already was, Zelda smiled and made an excuse of needing to grade before beelining it to her classroom and shutting the door after her.  When she reached her office, Mary thought about what it meant for Zelda to potentially be Sabrina’s aunt. Would it really be as a big of a deal as it seems? Zelda probably had her reasons for lying about living in Greendale before. Why hadn’t Mary ever seen her around, ever? Why did Zelda even lie? Mary had so many questions that could only be answered by Zelda herself. There was also the other thing with Lilith, which she still wasn’t sure about. She had thought about confronting Zelda for the past couple weeks, but instead, she had been distancing herself from her. She knew by now Zelda noticed, judging by the awkward conversation they exchanged this morning, and, Zelda seemed maybe a little hurt by the distance that had been put in between them unintentionally by Mary.

Lunch time came faster than Mary thought, and she wasn’t sure if Zelda would come to eat with her like usual today. Still, she got her lunch out and settled down in her office for the hour she had for lunch. After a couple minutes, Mary heard a light knock on her door.

“Come in!” 

Zelda came in, looking both nervous and worried, with her own lunch in hand. She walked in, and stood in front of Mary’s desk.

“Hey Zelda.”

“Hi Mary.” Zelda still had a worried look on her face, which worried Mary herself. 

“Are you okay, Zelda? You look worried about something?”

“Well, i just noticed your door was closed when I came over here. Usually your door isn’t closed, and you’ve been acting a little weird today. Is everything okay with you?” Zelda said with furrowed eyebrows.

‘Of course she noticed. I shouldn’t have been so awkward this morning with her. She obviously has no idea that i know what i know.’ Mary smiled, nodding her head. “Yes, of course everything is okay! I just had a headache. I didn’t want to deal with all the students in the halls. 

Zelda nodded, seeming unconvinced but relieved. “Okay, well, if there ever is anything going on, i’m always here to listen, okay?”

“Okay.” Mary said shyly. 

They sat and ate lunch together, and the tense atmosphere seemed to disappear after their first conversation, and Mary was relieved. She didn’t like the brief time that she felt like her and Zelda weren’t really friends. Everything seemed to be back to how it was before. Mary still knew that it wouldn’t be back like this for long. She knew that secrets would tear their friendship apart, and she didn't want to pretend to not know anything for much longer.  The rest of the school day felt like years instead of hours, as Mary was eager to leave so she could ask Zelda what she needed to ask tonight. She knew where Zelda lived now, so she decided that she would drop by tonight. Maybe it wasn’t good to come by unannounced, but this conversation had to happen at one night or another.

School was finally over, and Mary was practically running to her car to go home, not even stopping to say goodbye to Zelda, as she normally did. She drove home quickly, so she could think over some more about what she was going to say when she finally confronted Zelda. She didn’t want to miss anything, or mess anything up. She spent what felt like forever, pacing throughout her cottage. When she finally got herself together and ready to go, it was already 7 at night.

She drove to Zelda’s house nervously, and was still having doubts on if she should even go or not. She knew she needed answers, she didn’t want her and Zelda’s relationship, whatever it was at the moment, to be based on lies and secrets. That was always a recipe for disaster. 

She finally arrived, and parked outside. She sat in her car for a little while, breathing in, and out. She hated confrontation more than anything. She really didn’t want this conversation to turn sour.  She got out, and walked up to the door. She knocked quickly, before she could convince herself otherwise. She waited, until the door opened, revealing Zelda, looking beautiful as ever, even when she wasn’t expecting anyone. 

“Mary! Hi! What are you doing here? Has something happened?” Zelda had confusion painted on her face. 

Mary took a deep breath before answering. “Zelda, we need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading, i am going to *try* to update this once a week, so stay tuned for the next chapter! 
> 
> comments and kudos are appreciated !!


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